Online Security

Essential Safety Tips for 2026: How to Avoid Social Media Scams and Digital Party Traps Scams on social media are not new, but the methods keep evolving. In 2026, con artists are using AI-generated content, fake event invitations, and compromised accounts to trick people. The “digital party trap” has become particularly common—fake party invites sent through platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok that lead to phishing pages or malware downloads. Knowing how to spot these schemes before you click can save you time, money, and your account. ...

How to Protect Your Privacy When Using AI Tools When you ask a chatbot for help drafting an email or an image generator to create a picture, you are handing over more than just a request. Most popular AI tools collect the text you type, the files you upload, and sometimes even the way you interact with the interface. A recent Wall Street Journal article, “How to Maintain Our Privacy in the AI Age,” brought these trade-offs into sharp focus, prompting a wider conversation about what users can do to keep their data private without giving up the benefits of AI. ...

How to Protect Your Data in the AI Era: Practical Steps Based on WEF Guidance For anyone using AI tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, or Google Gemini, the convenience comes with a side of risk that wasn’t as pressing a few years ago. The same systems that generate text, code, and images also collect data from your interactions, and attackers are finding new ways to exploit them. ...

Rising Costs Are Fueling More Scams: What to Watch For What happened A recent survey reported by Fox 59 suggests that rising living costs are increasing consumers’ vulnerability to financial scams. While the precise methodology of the survey isn’t fully clear from the reporting, the pattern it highlights is one that security researchers and consumer protection agencies have observed for years: when household budgets tighten, scam risk tends to rise. ...

What Privacy Tech Means for Your AI Use — and How to Stay Safer If you’ve used a chatbot like ChatGPT, an image generator like Midjourney, or even your phone’s voice assistant, you’ve probably wondered: what happens to the data I feed into these tools? A recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) suggests that privacy technologies could be the key to making AI adoption safer for everyone. But what exactly does that mean for you as an everyday user? Let’s break it down. ...

How to Pick a Privacy-First AI Note Taker: Lessons from Krisp AI note-taking tools have become a staple for professionals who want to capture meeting notes, action items, and decisions without typing frantically. But these conveniences come with a trade-off: your conversations are being recorded, transcribed, and often stored on someone else’s servers. If you handle sensitive information—client names, strategy discussions, personal details—you need to know which tools respect your privacy and which treat your voice as a product. ...

Is Your Favorite Chrome Extension a Hidden Security Risk? Here’s How to Check You probably have a handful of Chrome extensions you use daily—a grammar checker, a password manager, a tab organizer, maybe a coupon finder. They’re convenient, often free, and seem harmless. But in the past year, security researchers have documented a troubling pattern: some of the most popular “productivity tools” on the Chrome Web Store are quietly being used as entry points into personal and business accounts. ...

Five Things You Should Never Tell an AI Chatbot – For Your Own Financial Safety Intro AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot have become everyday tools for answering questions, drafting emails, and even brainstorming ideas. But as these tools integrate deeper into our lives, a Washington Post column this week warned users about a less discussed risk: the sensitive personal data you might inadvertently hand over. According to the column and supporting research, sharing certain types of information with a chatbot can put your money and identity at risk. Here’s what to keep out of the chat window. ...

The Hidden Danger of Chrome Extensions: How ‘Productivity Tools’ Can Spy on You If you use Chrome, you probably have a handful of extensions installed. Maybe a password manager, an ad blocker, a grammar checker, or something that helps you save articles to read later. They seem harmless, even helpful. But over the past year, security researchers have documented a steady rise in malicious extensions that look like legitimate productivity tools but quietly steal data, inject ads, or act as backdoors into corporate networks. ...

The Best To-Do List Apps of 2026 (and How to Keep Your Tasks Private) Your to-do list might seem harmless—just a list of errands, deadlines, or project steps. But think about what else it contains: your daily routines, work contacts, location data if you add tags, and sometimes even passwords or personal notes stored in descriptions. That seemingly mundane data can reveal a lot about your life, and not all to-do list apps treat it with the same care. ...